Indy Blog

The Rockies Today, Aug. 15

NorthWestern Energy puts Montana-Idaho transmission project on holdAfter four years and $14 million in costs, NorthWestern Energy has asked government agencies to stop considering its application for a permit to build the Mountain States Transmission Intertie project, which would stretch 430 miles from southwest Montana to southeast Idaho.Montana Standard; Aug. 15

Wyoming wilderness fire gets exemption from USFS 'suppress all' policyAt the end of May, the U.S. Forest Service imposed a "suppress all" policy that required fire managers throughout the West to immediately attack wildfires, but the policy allowed for some exemptions, and the wildfire burning in the Teton Wilderness in Wyoming is the first in the nation to get such an exemption.Jackson Hole News and Guide; Aug. 15

Idaho county's trash at epicenter of energy lawsuitHidden Hollow Energy has been using methane gas captured at the Ada Canyon landfill to generate electricity to sell to Idaho Power since 2006, and that company filed a $30-million lawsuit against the Idaho county after it signed a deal with another company last November to divert about a third of landfill's trash stream to it to allow it to build a plant to generate power.Idaho Statesman; Aug. 15

Study finds high level of toxins in Alberta's lakesA study of water quality of Canada's lakes found the highest levels of microcystin, a potent liver toxin, in lakes in central Alberta and southern Manitoba, and an author of the study said the widespread presence of the toxin in lakes in every one of Canada's province makes addressing the toxin a public health issue.Edmonton Journal; Aug. 15

Mountain West News is a project of the Center for the Rocky Mountain West at The University of Montana. It provides a daily snapshot of news and opinion in the Rocky Mountain region of North America, giving the changing mountain West a tool to understand itself and a platform for the exchange of ideas.